Imagine being trapped inside of your own body for 23 years. You’re able to hear, to see, to think, but you are totally unable to move or communicate with anyone. This may be my worst nightmare, but sadly, it was the real life experience of
Rom Houben, a man presumed to be in a vegetative state following a nearly fatal car accident. Houben awoke in the hospital with a fully functioning brain, but was unable to communicate to anyone that he was, in fact, conscious.
Using the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale, which tests verbal and motor response, Houben’s doctors determined that he was in a coma and monitored him over the years, seeing no improvement. They believed he could not hear or feel anything. He was saved from this horrific fate when neurologist Steven Laureys decided to take a new approach to dealing with diagnosed coma patients. Using new scanning technology, Dr. Laureys found that Rom Houben’s brain was functioning almost normally.
This discovery was made three years ago. Since then, Houben has regained some movement with the help of intense therapy. He is now able to communicate with others using a touch screen computer that is attached to his wheelchair. Houben says that the day Laureys discovered he was not in a vegetative state was like being reborn, after twenty-three traumatic years.
Dr. Laureys fears that coma patients are misdiagnosed with disturbing frequency and hopes to develop new standards for diagnosing and treating such patients. Cases like Houben’s will certainly heighten the debate over whether or not people can make decisions to terminate the lives of loved ones who are in comas. This debate was last in the news during the 2005 case of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman whose life support was withdrawn after fifteen years in a coma.
Where do you stand on this issue?
Comments (61)
OMG
That is horrifying
This reminds me much of the movie Sublime. I don't know what I'd do. I think that's the sort of topic that should be talk amongst family members and loved ones if such a tragic event were to happen. But even then, I can't decide if I'd rather be on life support for awhile or just let go after so long. :\
Honestly, I would totally support this research of finding out how many people are really in a vegetative state.
But then again, would you rather live trapped in your own body or just die?wow... thats really sad =[ I wouldn't mind getting trapped in my own mind, but body is a different thing.
This is probably somewhat of a cruel thing to say, but if someone was in that situation and they know how badly their family needs them, yet can't do anything to help because they are in a state of coma then they might think they're good as being dead. Or perhaps the family might think like that.
I read about this before. That has to SUCK SO BAD! I would sew EVERYONE!
@calisartangel16@xanga - *sue. Sew is what you do with a needle and thread.
That is actually scary.
@antimony_demon@xanga - Lmao well said
@calisartangel16@xanga - what? 23 years ago they did not have the technology to check for brain activity. It was only recently that they came up with the technology that showed that his brain was still functioning.
If you don't want this to happen to you just tell your family to pull the plug if you go into a vegetative state.
@calisartangel16@xanga - You, madam, and your sue- (not sew [you're an idiot {learn to spell}]) happy self, are a prime example of what's wrong with modern society... always thinking you can blame someone else for your problems. You are a whore and a retard.
@Fliz@xanga - Uh, are you being serious? "you're an idiot", "you're whats wrong with modern society", "you are a whore and a retard"...
I really hope you're being sarcastic. Or you just made an idiot of yourself.
Never going to happen to me. If I end up in any kind of state that will leave me with reduced mental functioning, I want the plug to be pulled.
@taylorrrxx3@xanga - That wasn't a very good comeback. Try being more creative. Fail.
Wow, that is crazy. Thanks for sharing this.
I don't have an opinion on the matter.
Some people, like my mom always tells me that if she was in a coma or vegetative state (she works in a hospital so she sees it all the time), she would rather die. If family members don't know the wishes before hand it's a hard decision to make. Let them suffer or let them die. For some strange reason I always imagined being in a coma as just being sleep for a really long time but just being unable to wake up. Just dreaming until you hopefully wake up. I would hope that family members at least give them a period of time to see if they recover before they pull the plug. Our bodies are amazing and sometimes we underestimate our ability to recovery.
When I saw that on yahoo, I thought that was so sad. I think that's kinda even worse than dying.
@Fliz@xanga - i dont think she was trying to have a good comeback.. she was just being honest. b/c i agree with her, what you said was completely unnecessary & very stupid.
That would indeed be my worst nightmare. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.
if you're aiming for an informative blog, i suggest you put up a link.
I'd support doing more research into this. I wonder how many others are going through what he did.
I'd rather die to be honest.
Just to specify: Terri Schiavo wasn't in a coma, she was in a partial vegetative state. She could respond to those around her in a limited fashion but she had to be fed through a feeding tube. Which is why her death was so controversial (that and her sleezeball of a husband).
that is really scary. i saw it once on an episode of house.
@how_x_loverly@xanga -
I agree. I think it should be talked about, because it's one of those things that could happen so unexpectedly.